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Just JkCo is just an honest label for the complex simplicity of my life.
With this site, I want to share ideas and experiences in hopes of creating and nurturing connections that will inspire.
I hope for this to be a resource and a forum for steppers, body percussionists, dancers, teachers, students and friends.
JkCo's
Blog
Step Afrika!
Ordered Steps
Making dance
Dis
covery
In the works
Spot
lights
Step Afrika is the first professional company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping. Founded in December 1994, the company is critically-acclaimed for its efforts to promote an understanding of and appreciation for stepping and the dance tradition's use as an educational tool for young people worldwide. Step Afrika reaches tens of thousands of Americans each year and has performed on many stages in North & South America, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.
I joined this very special company in 2005...and the rest, as the say, is history. In 2007, I was trusted with the service of Artistic Director. Through Step Afrika! and all the gifted dancers, I have been able to find my voice as an artist and learn who I am as a choreographer. Just as significant, is the extended family I have built since my first trip with the company to South Africa in December 2004.
Read and see more at:
www.stepafrika.org
www.facebook.com/stepafrikahq
Artistic Director
Founder/Director
Ordered Steps is a nonprofit organization that teaches stepping as a means of building character in youth. Ordered Steps implements programs and events that teach and encourage kids to make good life choices that will lead them to spiritual, intellectual, and physical growth.
Ordered Steps is my heart. I started this very personal project in 2003 based on the work I have been doing since 1995 teaching stepping at Houston high schools. Through that experience, I saw how much the youth enjoyed the art form just as I did, and its power to enrich lives. So, I decided to create this organization to spread the energy of stepping to as many students as I could.
Today, Ordered Steps hosts an annual Summer Step Camp, as well as workshops and events throughout the city of Houston.
www.orderedsteps.org
Choreography Reel
Thanks to all the talented dancers, steppers and musicians I've had the opportunity to work with over the years.
YOU BRING INSPIRATION TO LIFE!
There is so much beauty around us -
in the human spirit,
in our arts, science, our words, in the passing time,
in the earth and the universe around us.
In our own way, each one of us can dis-cover a small piece of the majesty our Creator unveils, if only we are concious and free enough to remove that cover.
These photo collections represent that discovery -
folks discovering stepping, fresh friends; me discovering new places, the art of photography or some other interesting hobby.
...and so much yet undiscovered!
This July I travelled to Beirut, Lebanon with Step Afrika! for Repurcussions.
While there I visited this Palestinian refugee camp and snapped a few shots while walking through a maze of small passages strewn with tangled webs of electrical wires. In the midst of this haze, I found my eyes drawn to any and all fragments of color.
Thousands of Palestinians have been displaced to these camps making whatever sacrifices necessary to survive.
In Repercussions, we were able to unite children in all walks of Lebanese life through stepping.
I've had the chance to share in discovery with so many great people.
In each experience the line between teacher and student fades away, and we create a learning space where, consciously or not, everyone teaches each other.
Great times!
Thanks for your hard work and commitment.
I'm excited to be opening my first office and workspace. Located in Houston, this will be the administrative hub for Just Jkco and other projects to be announced later this year.
It's a funky studio space located in the warehouse district. For the next couple of weeks I'll be working to get it together and make it functional.
The games we played as kids are inspiring this new piece. It's crazy to see how beatboxing, girls' clap games, children's songs and such have influenced stepping and hip hop music.
It's already been fun and funny working on this piece....bringing folks into the studio to reminisce about childhood. This is also giving me a chance to develop new strategies in my creative process as it relates to involving the dancers in lending different perspectives on an idea.
Hip Hop Step Shop
Right now, I'm very interested in the roots and elements of Hip Hop. I'm working on a show that delves into the development of Hip Hop and how its rhythm, movement, expressionism, and culture tie in to stepping and the percussion of dance as a whole. Among other titles, I'm reading:
Hip Hop as Performance and Ritual
by William E. Smith, Ph.D.
Graffiti and Street Art
by Anna Waclawek
Female Figures
I'm fascinated by the roles that female figures have played in my life. From a nurturing mother, to girls jumping rope on the playground, to first girlfriend, to young adult relationships, and beyond...my impression of womanhood is so...colorful! We'll see what comes of this fascination :-)
Three : June : 2011
Lifestyle section cover story with slideshow and article about our preparation for "Reflections on Jacob Lawrence"
SLIDESHOW: Art In Motion ARTICLE: Stepping Off the Wall
Twenty : June : 2011
Michael Eric Dyson speaks with Jakari and Step Afrika Executive Director C. Brian Williams to discuss an upcoming show as well as stepping in racial, spiritual, and historic contexts. One of the most eye-opening conversations I've ever had about stepping. LISTEN
Seven : July : 2011
Shannon Runyon, for KIAH 39 News/NEWSFIX Houston TX, talks to Jakari about Ordered Steps, Step Afrika!, and stepping in a fun look at how he is sharing this art form with people of all ages. WATCH
Twenty-Seven : Nov : 2011
Review of Step Afrika! performance at Global Rhythms in Chicago
"Shermans ingenious all-male Off the Train follows, percussive effects eerily capturing the clacking sound of the rails..." READ
Twenty-Eight : Nov : 2011
Another review of Step Afrika! performance at Global Rhythms in Chicago
"But none of it prepares you for the festive celebration of "Nxt/Stp," by Jakari Sherman, the troupe's cavalcade of stepping, tapping, hand-clapping and show-stopping percussive fireworks." READ
